Defense Secretary James Mattis attends a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 28. Mattis recently changed how troop numbers were counted in countries where special operations missions are taking place and numbers in Syria were quadrupled under the new counting method. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has about 2,000 troops in Syria, which is four times the number Pentagon officials previously acknowledged, officials said Wednesday.

The new number doesn't necessarily mean more troops have been deployed. Rather, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recently revised how the Pentagon accounts for deployed soldiers in special operations zone, Voice of America reported. And the new figures likely mean a more accurate count of troops who have already been in Syria for some time.

"In implementing this change, we seek to balance informing the American public with the imperative of operational security and denying the enemy any advantage," Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Robert Manning said.

Until recently, there were even more U.S. troops in Syria than the official 2,000 estimate. According to Foreign Policy, the Pentagon withdrew 400 Marines who were providing artillery support to U.S.-backed Syrian rebels.